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With self-publishing encompassing everything from book formatting to cover design, marketing principles and launch tactics, where does a new author start?!

Publishing your own book is much more efficient, affordable and achievable than going down the traditional publishing route, but the process doesn’t come without its own set of hurdles.

The good news is that there is a wealth of self-publishing blogs out there that are equipped with the valuable resources, tips and tricks to help first-time (or second-time, third-time, fourth-time!) authors navigate through the writing and indie publishing process. As the self-publishing field is constantly evolving, we like to revisit these blogs on a regular basis to keep ourselves up to date with what’s happening in the industry and constantly continue to learn from our knowledgeable peers.

Here are 10 of the self-publishing authorities that we follow and love, in no particular order of preference.

As much as we’d like to believe otherwise, the reality is that not everybody is an author. While almost all of us have an important message or valuable knowledge to share, there will always be a select few people that are more talented at writing than others. And that’s ok! If we all shared the same skill set, the world would be a much less interesting place.

If you’ve got an incredible idea for a book but are struggling to go through the motions of writing it, angel writing just might be the ideal solution for you to put words to paper (or, in this day and age, screen) and get your work published! Here’s what it entails and why it is a great service for those who struggle with writing or simply don’t have the time to do it.

While there are countless benefits to becoming an entrepreneur or author, the one drawback that isn’t often highlighted is that it can be a slightly lonely process. Sure, the work you’re doing is fulfilling and working for yourself is incredibly liberating. You’re disciplined for the most part, and are thriving without a boss looking over your shoulder! However, you miss hearing other people’s feedback and working on projects in a team setting. And you’ve been finding yourself procrastinating a little bit more than usual lately..

Part of the creative process involves bouncing ideas back and forth, and sometimes you wish there was somebody else around to provide their opinion. Not to mention – you could do with a little boost of motivation to stay focused when the urge to give in to distraction hits, or valuable advice that would help you map out the best way to reach your goals.It sounds like you might be searching for an accountability partner.Read More

“I want to write a book, but I’ve heard that only a small percentage of them actually sell. If I won’t actually make any money off all the time I’ve spent writing, what’s the point?”

We can’t tell you how many times prospective clients and hesitant first-time authors have voiced this concern to us.

Granted, many books don’t actually generate enough revenue from sales alone to match your salary for the year – let alone the month. However, the benefits they can bring to your business will manifest themselves in a myriad of other ways. Read on to find out how.

To Share Your Knowledge Or Message With The World

If you think you have something important to say, chances are somebody else in the world would agree. Provided you have a unique angle in mind, there is almost always an audience for any possible topic a book could cover – regardless of how obscure yours might be! The tough part is figuring out how to share your knowledge in a manner that people could relate to or in a way that would capture their interest until the very last page.

Have confidence in the information or message you’d like to spread. You already think it’s valuable – now it’s time to convince your future readers to agree. Once you’ve managed to tap into your target audience’s interests and have them read your book, you’ve set the wheels in motion for the marketing process that will soon unfold and help your business flourish.

It is a known fact that including influencers’ perspectives and testimonials in your book lends you increased credibility as an author and adds more value to the content for readers. Yet while all of that sounds fantastic, how can a first time author with no connections to these experts achieve this?

Have you been trying to write a book for years, but keep finding yourself getting lost in the process or being unable to stir up the motivation to deliver a final product? If so, you’re far from the only one. In fact, only 3% of the aspiring authors who start writing a book end up actually finishing it. Among that 3%, just 20% of the authors manage to publish the content they’ve put countless hours of thought and effort into. In other words, if 1000 people start writing – only 30 of them finish the book and just 6 of them end up publishing it. Pretty surprising, right?If you’re one of the 994 who don’t finish the book, here are a few reasons why.Read More

Congratulations! After months of hard work, you’ve managed to finish writing your book. So, now what? Before you can start thinking about marketing it, you’ll need to have a cover designed.

While you might have dozens of ideas of what you want it to look like, it seems next to impossible to pick just one. From fonts to colors and photos, the number of options you have to choose from for your book’s cover makes your head spin.Read More

You’re hoping to writing a book, but the cost of publishing it doesn’t seem worth it.

You have dozens of fantastic ideas to fill its pages with, but you doubt anybody would want to read it.
You’re pretty sure you know your stuff, but you’re definitely not a pro – and there have already been so many books published within your niche.

Sound familiar? These are some of the common thoughts racing through wannabe authors’ minds.Read More

How to Get Readers to Finish Your Non-Fiction Book

A good nonfiction novel can have one of two effects: it pulls you into the material and holds you there until the end; or, it has a lot of excessive information with overly long paragraphs that run on for pages.

In this post I’ll run through some basics of writing and formatting your nonfiction book so that readers can enjoy the journey and work through your novel from start to finish.

Remember, you want people to read as much as they can. As of July 1st, 2015 Amazon now pays out royalties based on pages read and not by units purchased or loaned. This means less money for you if your book doesn’t get finished. Let’s turn fans into readers that get books finished.Read More